Criminal Investigations Division
Arguably one of the busiest divisions of the Sheriff’s Office, the Criminal Investigations Division is unquestionably a very busy shop.
The agency’s criminal investigative functions are assigned to this division, the Major Case Section, General Assignment Section as well as the agency’s Investigative Services Section.
Major Crimes Unit
- Homicide
- Gang
- FBI Safe Street Task Force
- Victim Advocate Squad
Felony Crimes Unit
- Felony I
- Felony II
- Analytic, Intelligence and Monitoring (AIM)
- Electronic Surveillance Support Team (ESST)
Major Case Section
The Major Case Section is one of three within the Criminal Investigations Division overseen by a Captain. It contains two units commanded each by a Lieutenant. The section blends traditional detectives with proactive detectives and their investigative, analytical and technological support staff.
The Major Crimes Unit is home to the dedicated Homicide and Cold Case Squads. The Homicide Squad investigates all homicides and unattended deaths, demonstrating their unwavering commitment to justice. The Cold Case Squad focuses on unsolved cases, some of which date back decades, showing their persistence in seeking closure for victims and their families. The Unit also contains our Victim Advocate Squad, which provides victim and family support and assistance for all the agencies within Orange County. The Victim Advocate Squad is also home to our two Therapy Dogs, who provide comfort to those in need. The Gang Enforcement Unit (GEU) is housed within the Major Crimes Unit and responds to callouts, both as primary detectives and to assist other units with gang-related criminal acts. The GEU creates and updates criminal gang files to meet state standards that enable the State Attorney’s Office (SAO) to complete successful gang enhancement sentencing after prosecution. The GEU also works with the State Attorney and United States Attorney’s Office during investigations and after arrests to ensure successful prosecutions.
The Felony Crimes Unit houses the proactive detectives who locate felony crime suspects through traditional and technological means. It also houses our Analytics, Intelligence, and Monitoring (AIM) squad, a team that plays a crucial role in providing real-time crime analytics to the agency. This is achieved through technology and partnerships with public and private sectors, giving AIM access to multiple camera systems throughout Orange County for real-time information in fast-breaking situations.
Violent Crimes Unit
- Violent Crimes Squad I
- Violent Crimes Squad II
- Violent Crimes Squad III
- Violent Crimes Squad IV
- Auto Theft
General Investigations Unit
- General Investigations Unit I
- General Investigations Unit II
- General Investigations Unit III
- General Investigations Unit IV
- General Investigations Unit V
- Economic Crimes
General Assignment Section
The General Assignment Section is comprised of a Violent Crimes Unit and a Property Crimes Unit. The Violent Crimes Unit is made up of four squads with about 6-8 detectives on each squad, there are two day shift squads and two night shift squads. The hours they cover are generally 0600-0400 and are subject to call outs during their open hours. They investigate all types of violent crime to include Home Invasions, Armed Robberies, Aggravated Batteries, Shootings to name a few. There is also an Auto Theft Squad and they primarily investigate auto thefts.
The functions of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Economic Crimes Unit revolve around investigating and combating various forms of financial fraud and white-collar crimes within Orange County This specialized unit focuses on cases involving embezzlement, identity theft, investment scams, and scams that target vulnerable individuals, businesses, and organizations in the community. The team works diligently to gather evidence, conduct interviews, and collaborate with other law enforcement agencies and financial institutions to bring perpetrators to justice and protect the financial well-being of the residents of Orange County. Additionally, the team educates and brings awareness to the community of current scam trends with the goal of preventing citizens from becoming victims.
There is also a General Investigations Unit, there are four squads they are broken up and work in all six sectors. Their primary responsibility is investigating property related crimes such as Burglaries, Thefts, Batteries etc. Finally there is an economics squad who investigate white collar crimes such as Fraud, Identity Theft and other related schemes to defraud.
Special Investigations Unit
- Sexual Offender Surveillance Squad
- Sex Crimes Squad
- Digital Forensics Squad
- Domestic Crimes Squad
Evidence Unit
Crime Analyst Unit
- Forensics Unit
- Forensics Biology Lab
- Forensics Crime Scene Investigators
- Latent Print Squad
Investigative Services Section
The Investigative Service Section is one of three Sections commanded by a Captain. In the ISS section I have four Units commanded by a Lieutenant or Civilian Manager. They are as follows:
Special Investigations Unit, commanded by a Lieutenant, oversees the sworn investigations in the ISS Section. The following investigative Squads are in this command:
- Sexual Offender Surveillance Squad. This squad oversees the monitoring and registration of court ordered Sexual Offenders within Orange County.
- Sex Crimes Squad. This squad investigates all sexual offenses and missing children under the age of 13.
- Digital Forensics Squad. This squad investigates criminal activity and performs examinations on electronic devices such as computers and cell phones.
- Domestic Crimes. This squad investigates all domestic violence related incidents, all child abuse incidents and missing persons over the age of 13.
Evidence Unit, commanded by a civilian manager, is responsible for the processing of evidence for storage for future criminal proceedings, for disposal or to return to its owner. This unit keeps track of thousands of items every year in anticipation of presentation at court or for forensic examination. The Evidence Unit stores and destroys weapons and narcotics in accordance with state statues. This unit also donates thousands of items to charities throughout Central Florida.
Crime Analysis Unit, commanded by a civilian manager, is responsible for compiling, analyzing and dissemination of criminal activity information in Orange County. This unit tracks our crime statistical information as well as trends and patterns and provides this information to deputies and detectives in criminal activity bulletins to assist in preventing crime.
Forensics Unit, commanded by a civilian manager is responsible for the following sections within Forensics:
- Forensics Biology Lab examines biological evidence for DNA, processes photographs of crime scenes and examines and test fires firearms for comparison.
- Forensics Crime Scene Investigator squads respond to active crime scenes and process crime scenes for evidence.
- Latent Print squad is responsible for the examination and comparison of fingerprint evidence.
